The past year posed new and unusual challenges for U.S. law firms, rattled by economic uncertainty, remote work, stay-home orders and social distancing. Despite the turmoil, profits at the Am Law 100 leapt to new heights.
As firms and their clients continue to navigate ongoing business challenges in 2021, BD and marketing professionals first need to understand how mature their efforts are in specific areas. Then, they can look at what the successful firms are doing differently, so they can position themselves to join those ranks.
In the decade ahead, the mechanism for offsetting the effects of external market forces on profitability will shift from changing partnership composition to transforming a partnership's behavioral norms, centering on how partners behave toward each other and help each other become the best possible version of their professional selves.
When the pandemic sent everyone home in March 2020, it was a seismic shift in work, but one that had a clear reasoning behind it, and, oddly, was remarkably uniform in execution for all involved. The return to the office is much more complicated, and it isn't just about logistics.
While bonuses have kept some associates from moving to midsize firm competitors or outside Big Law entirely, large firms must also be more creative and holistic in the long run to retain top associates when the barriers between home and work life are eroding.
A Silver Tsunami of aging partners is threatening the legal profession. There's a way to higher ground.
The global COVID-19 pandemic forced lawyers — individuals whose relationships formerly depended upon firm handshakes and looking their clients directly in the eye — to build client trust through a tiny camera lens. Here's a Q&A with GCs to discuss what matters most to their companies when hiring outside counsel.
While acquiring the skills necessary to develop business is certainly a life-long journey, here are five critical elements to consider from the outset.
Partnerships are relationships, ideally relationships built on trust and a common goal. Successful partnerships require all parties working together — working together to service a client fully, generate revenue and to build a business. This requires openness and coordination.
A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic caused once-in-a-lifetime expense reductions that could forever alter the business of law. After those cost savings fueled double-digit profit growth for many firms in 2020, don't be surprised if Big Law leaders try to make some of those gains stick.
